Why Lloyd can’t be left alone.

Not that I’m upset that he bought a sousaphone, of course. It’s that he bought a sousaphone without me there. If he’s going to take these crazy kinds of risks unattended, there’s no telling what kind of unsanctioned junk he might buy. Today a sousaphone, tomorrow a bulk bundling machine. Oh wait.

And yes, it is a sousaphone, not a tuba like I thought it was. I remember in high school I asked our band director if I could switch from the flute to the tuba. He wisely said ‘no’. Probably because I called it the wrong thing, huh?

Anyway, we left it at Lincoln Lutheran, and we’ll see if they come up with a good use for it. It’s pretty beat up, but one of the guys at ukulele night thought it would make a fantastic hood ornament. (We didn’t actually take it there, we just told The Legend of the Six Dollar Tuba Sousaphone.)

I really had no intention of bidding on this, much less of buying it. I really don’t know how it even happened. I was pleasently suprised to find out that it would find in the back seat of a Honda Civic.

I think sousaphones are used in marching mostly…and they wrap around your neck. Oh, and a sousaphone can have a non-metal bell. A tuba doesn’t have to wrap, and it’s all metal. But I’m not really sure. Let’s ask Curt. Curt?

I am no expert by all means, I only know how to play it (and not that very well anymore). From a logistical view, the sousaphone, since it is bigger, is for projecting louder sound and is easier to hold while standing, therefore much more prevalent in marching bands. The sousaphone can be made out of all brass or fiberglass or both. The tuba is mainly used in non-marching bands, although there are marching tubas. I have only played B-flat tubas. There are other types that I am not familliar with.